CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said that Team Rama councilors are trying to block approval of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) covering the 93-1 land swap deal.
That, after they postponed for one week the approval of the MOA to allow members of the City Council to review the agreement.
The mayor, in his news conference yesterday, reiterated his warning to the Team Rama councilors that he will have them recalled, including Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, if they won’t approve the land exchange.
“They’re trying to find a way to stop it and I’m telling them, I won’t be nice anymore and the occupants of 93-1 won’t be nice anymore. Let them try,” he said.
Osmeña said, though, he will wait for the legislative body’s one-week review of the agreement.
During their regular session last Tuesday, the council referred the MOA to the ad hoc committee for 93-1.
The committee is composed of Councilors Atty. Jose Daluz III, Atty. Raymond Garcia, Atty. Jocelyn Pesquera, Jerry Guardo and Philip Zafra.
It was Daluz who moved that the MOA be referred to the committee first.
The minority bloc had opposed it, saying that the approval of the MOA will allow the Capitol to transfer ownership of the 93-1 lots to the City Government and start coming up with terms and conditions.
But they were outnumbered.
Daluz assured the residents, some of whom were present during the deliberation, that they will act on the land swap deal next week.
The mayor pointed out yesterday, however, that a 93-1 ad hoc committee was already formed when former mayor Michael Rama was still a vice mayor to study the land swap.
He said Daluz and Davide, who was then city councilor, were members of the committee so they should have studied the matter long ago.
If the MOA is approved, the Capitol will hand over 34.2 hectares of occupied 93-1 lots while the City, in exchange, will give 16.4 hectares of its lots, which are mostly prime properties.